Arts Alliance Media (AAM) officially announced the activation of its virtual print fee (VPF) program for the rollout of digital cinema in Latin America. Paramount and Universal now join Sony and Warner in agreeing to supply their films in digital format to screens deployed by AAM and to contribute to the cost of converting the cinemas to digital. Final negotiations are being completed with Twentieth Century Fox and should be concluded in the coming days.

Howard Kiedaisch, CEO of Arts Alliance Media, said, “We are proud to extend our list of Latin American partners to Paramount and Universal—it’s a real vote of confidence in AAM and for the digital-cinema opportunity in the region. With the 35mm era drawing to a close, the time is certainly right for us to now extend digital to Latin America off the back of these strong partners.”

Arts Alliance Media already has a presence in Latin America through software deals with Mexico’s Cinépolis and Cinemex, Brazil’s Cinemais and Ecuador’s SuperCines, among others. The company has existing European VPF deals in place with all six Hollywood studios through 2013 and beyond.